


A Consolation Effort

by Ohnoitsmycircus



Category: The Vampire Chronicles
Genre: F/M, I promise, M/M, Mentions of burning alive, Not really violent, Spoilers for IWTV through Blood Canticle, just covering my bases, mentions of depression, mentions of self harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 21:12:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19797868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohnoitsmycircus/pseuds/Ohnoitsmycircus
Summary: Lestat wants to be the one to break the news of Merrick to Louis. It doesn’t go as he plans.





	A Consolation Effort

**Author's Note:**

> This was written 15 years ago. Posted to 2 different places under my old name. First time posting on here. Not beta-ed. All mistakes are mine and that’s it. Characters are not mine. This is for entertainment not profit. Hope you enjoy!

I think it's the heart beat we pick up on before anything else. A supernatural heart beats in a way only supernatural ears can hear. If the being had a cloaked mind, the heart beat would be all I'd have to go on to track them.

Now, being the incredibly powerful fiend that I am, I can break thru anyone's shield to hear their inner most thoughts. Anyones but his that is, or any other made by me.

I was walking down a brightly lit San Francisco street at 10:30 on a Friday night when I heard that tell tale heart beat. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my denim jacket and went toward the sound. Starring down at my boots as I walked, I mapped out my destination in my mind. 

Mortals walked all around me and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. They saw a tan, strikingly handsome young man with long curly blond hair dressed much as they were; tight blue jeans, a jacket of the same faded color, tight black t-shirt, blue tinted glasses, and black boots.

I stopped suddenly. The sound that had gotten louder as I walked was now, as I stood across the street from a certain cafe, almost deafening! The cafe was not overly crowded but there were a good number of people milling about.

It was dimly light with a few small tables around the room, a couch off one side, and a small stage of some sort in the front right corner. A young woman sitting on a stool was reading from a spiral bound notebook from that stage while the customers watched, listened and drank their coffee.

I spotted him in the back of the room, seated not too far from the counter where all those wonderful coffee concoctions were made. A bookcase separated his table and the counter.

He was trying his best to look inconspicuous amidst the crowd, which was nearly impossible because he'd apparently caught the attention of an attractive young waitress.

She was about 22 years old perhaps and she lingered a bit too long when she brought his drink. She was doing her best at idle conversation with him and he, never one to be outrightly rude to a lady, graciously answered her questions. 

She made some offhanded comment about the book he'd chosen from the bookcase, hoping to gain some ground with him, at which he laughed politely. She would've stayed there all night I'm sure but she was called away by another table.

"I'll be back." She told him.

It isn't very often I get to see him interacting with mortals because he generally does not. 

I was very surprised and intrigued at this display and could've been content with watching the scene play out between the two but part of me was jealous of her attention to him. He was mine after all.

I made my way across the street and into the cafe. From the mortal conversations I over heard as I walked by I learned that it was "open mic night" at this cafe.

The nervous young woman reading on stage had been doing so for far too long. She was reading poetry, originals in fact, and her poetry "sucked."

Finally he looked up from his book to see me. He smiled warmly at me and made a little gesture for me to join him so I did. He rose as I approached his table but I motioned for him to be seated.

After all it was only me.

"Hello Lestat," he said smiling beautifully. "What are you doing here?" 

I felt my heart skip a beat when he said my name. "Well, Louis, I'm here for the poetry!" I told him with a flashy grin and took the chair across from him. 

He smiled at me, cocked an eyebrow and replied, "In case you hadn't heard, " he gestured to the room at my back, "it 'sucks.'"

I couldn't help but laugh at this! His french accent gave each syllable a beautiful, rhythmic lilt which was quite in contrast with his use of vernacular english.

I sat back in my chair to study him as he rose to replace the book to its shelf. He looked absolutely amazing!

When I took notice of his clothing I was stunned. He wore a black long sleeved thermal shirt with a dark gray green stripped polo over it. His black pants were modern and brand new.

They weren't jeans or dress slacks, but slim fitted modern trousers. His shoes were also black and new looking and he wore a pair of tinted glasses that nearly matched my blue ones. 

His hair was the same mop of unruly black waves that I so love, but it was clean and shining under the dim lights of the cafe. The whole picture of him was very modern and very becoming.

He returned to the table and sat down opposite me. "No, really Lestat," he said reaching across the small table pressing my hand, "why are you here?" He didn't seem angry or annoyed that I'd tracked him down.

I tried to look him in the eye but I just couldn't. He was too much. He looked exactly like a young college student or one of those indie rocker type youngsters. I became slightly overwhelmed by the sheer presence of him. 

This happens sometimes after we've been apart. I'll always remember the way he looks, sounds, smells, but when you have the real thing in front of you-well lets just say I'm like a junkie about to get a fix after too long a fast. 

It's a damn good thing he couldn't read my mind! All that was going through my head was grabbing him, running my hands over his face, his hair, and covering his mouth with mine. It was all I could do to stare stupidly at our hands. He gave mine a slight squeeze, encouraging me to answer. 

Trying to keep all of the emotion out of my voice, I told him flatly, "I'm here because I wanted to see you."

I glanced up at him finally, but whether or not that was the answer he wanted, I haven't a clue. He seemed some what satisfied. He sat back in his chair, taking the hand that had covered mine, ran it through his hair and sighed.

The answer I'd given him had been the truth. I had come here to see him. I left Tarquin and Mona three nights ago when I was sure they no longer needed me. 

Then I came out west to sunny San Francisco because I knew he'd be here. I spent those three nights searching him out and tonight when I first heard the heart beat I knew I'd found him. 

You see, Louis, David, Merrick, and myself all parted ways after that nasty business with the Talamasca. I never stayed away too far from New Orleans.

In fact, if you've read Tarquins tale you're already aware of that. You're also aware of something else. Something which is indicative of my being here with Louis. Merrick. She is no longer a fellow traveler of the Devils Road. 

I barely knew Merrick, but I still mourn for her. She was able to get Louis to betray himself in order to give her his dark gift. I suppose I felt betrayed as well by his giving it to her. He gave it to a stranger but could not be persuaded to give it to me his maker, his friend, his one time lover.

Ah well, not his fault really. In David's account of that ordeal he tells of how she "fixed" Louis into believing there was a great love between them. And from her own mouth she told us how she "fixed" Louis into giving her his immortal kiss.

So, I can't be too angry with him. Merrick's new life lead to the attempted end of Louis'. But Providence was smiling down on us that night and we were able to bring him back. His skin was still slightly darkened from that episode, but not quite as dark as mine from my episode in the Gobi. 

In any event, the spell Merrick put Louis under began to wear off after she became one of us. Well, I don't know if that's right; it didn't wear off in so much as she allowed it to dissipate. How would I even be aware of something like that, you ask? 

Because I know Louis. As the few nights we spent together passed I could see his affections for her waning. Not in any vast display mind you, but it was happening and I could see it.

This didn't appear to bother Merrick however. She was engulfed in her new senses and what they meant for her. 

The rift between the two of them became glaringly evident when we separated because they didn't leave together. When I enlisted her aid with Tarquin she hadn't the slightest idea where Louis had gone.

Merrick's death is my underlying reason for being in this city. I wanted to be the one to break the news to Louis. I wanted to be the one to comfort him after such a loss. Part of me was afraid he'd follow her and that I couldn't allow.

I wanted to let him know that I could be there for him if he'd let me, the way I wanted to be there for him after Claudia. And I wanted to let him know that I was grieving too.

The waitress came back to our table and I could see a hint of disappointment in her eyes at seeing me there. 

"Can I get you another cup of coffee?" She asked Louis. 

"Non, thank you, I'm fine. " He answered smiling politely.

She blushed when he smiled at her and a quick scan of her thoughts told me what I already knew-she thought he was HOT!! And when she saw us together she assumed he was gay. 

"And you, sir?" She asked turning to me. "Can I get you anything?" I asked her what the special was and she reeled off a list that I can only hope were ingredients for a drink.

"That sounds marvelous, I'll have that." I told her. 

She smiled and said she'd be right back. Behind the counter, I overheard her tell her coworker that Louis and I must be "models or something!" 

Yeah, "or something" right?! If you only knew sweetheart.

I leaned across the table and motioned Louis closer. He moved toward me with his eyebrows arched questioningly. "She thinks you're hot!" I told him grinning.

I loved doing this to him and old habits die hard do they not? I always enjoyed watching the emotions play put across his all too human face when I'd tell him what this person or that person thought of him. 

His response, when he’d give me one, was always the same: he'd tilt his pretty head to one side, furrow his brushstroke eyebrows, close his eyes, and shake his head in disapproval at bad old Lestat. 

This time however, he didn't do anything close to that. Instead he smiled at, tapped the side of his head with his fore finger and whispered,

"I know." First he's flirting with some half grown mortal, then his clothes, now this!

I must’ve been unable to control my bewilderment, because he sat back and chuckled. He let his smile broaden as the waitress came back and dropped off my drink at our table.

I thanked her and she went on her way. I looked back at him and he still had that adorable grin on his beautiful face. 

"I'm like you now, remember?" He said.

"Of course I remember!" I replied soberly, "I don't think I'll ever forget it, my melancholy friend."

He nodded a little and looked down at the table. 

I had put more force behind that statement than I'd intended, but the memories of that night flooded my brain like a tidal wave.

The memory of him burnt black lying in that coffin flashed before me as he spoke and I felt all those emotions again as powerfully as a blow. I could see David's distraught face pleading with me silently and the memory of Merrick's uncontrollable weeping was almost unbearable given my intentions for this meeting. 

I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Louis' concerned face just inched from my own. He was stretching across the small table. 

"Are you alright, Lestat? I apologize if I upset you, that was not my intention."He said with a worried expression.

"I'm fine." I told him reaching up and taking his hand. “You have nothing to apologize for." I patted his hand and released it as he sat back in his chair.

He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair again. 

I wanted very much to speak with him about Merrick. I wanted to get it over with because I had no idea how I was going to do it. I'm not very good at this sort of thing, but he deserved to be told by someone who loved him. I realized I wanted to be alone with him. To tell him this awful news somewhere more secluded. 

Not just to break the despairing news about Merrick, but because I was tired of everyone in this damn cafe watching us! 

If you can imagine that. Me, The Vampire Lestat not wanting to be watched?! The same impetuous brat that stood in front on stage in front of thousands of seething fans wanted all eyes off him?

Well, I didn't want them off me, I confess. I wanted them off of us.

"Would you come with me?" I asked him quickly.

"Let's go someplace quiet, somewhere we can talk." I folded my arms on the table and leaned forward trying to get my point across to him. 

He could tell I was serious and said, "Of course I'll go with you. Just let me pay the bill and then we can go wherever you wish."

I tried to give him some money for my untouched coffee but it was no use. He just gave me a stern look and shook his head. I put up my hands in mock defeat and watched him leave the table to walk over to the counter. 

The same girl that had waited on us was at the register. She gave him that same shy, embarrassed smile.

"Was everything okay?' She asked. 

"Yes. Everything was just fine, thank you. Please, keep the change." He told her while handing her the money. 

The two drinks together couldn't have cost more than $12 dollars maybe, but the bill I saw him hand the waitress was a fifty. 

"You can't be serious?!!" The girl said in an astonished whisper.

"I'm quite serious." He said with a wink and a breathtaking smile.

I stood and we headed toward the door. I put my arm around his shoulders, leaned to his ear and said, 

"You just made that young lady the envy of this entire shop and it wasn't from the enormous tip you gave her!" 

He laughed a little as I said this. "And you call me a devil?!" 

He laughed outright at that. I loved the sound of his unreserved laughter. It was very melodic and it made me warm to hear him opening up so freely.

We reached the door and I let him out of my grasp as we walked into the night. 

"Where would you like to go?" He asked me. 

"Someplace quiet is all, nowhere in particular." I told him. "This is your city Louis, you lead.”

He nodded in agreement and we began walking.

"There's a small park a few blocks ahead. It should be fairly deserted by now." He said without looking at me. " 

“That'll do just fine." I said as I took his hand in mine. I saw him smile and blush out of the corner of my eye and my heart melted. 

He's always been able to bring about that sort of reaction from me with his simplest gestures. 

Neither of us spoke. We just walked in silence enjoying the feel of our clasped hands, lost in our thoughts. How many times had we done this? Just relishing in each other’s company? 

The park was in view now and it was fairly deserted, just as Louis said it would be. Louis knee his city, I'd give him that. 

He led me down one of the paved pathways so we could get away from the street. We stopped at a bench just past a lamp post so that the bench was well lit but not overly offensive to his eyes. 

We sat on either ends of the bench. He sat with his back against the arm rest and drew up one of his knees to rest his arm on and faced me. He looked so open, so serene in that moment that I nearly lost my nerve to do what needed to be done.

I decided to try and keep the mood light and jovial-the way we'd been when we left the cafe. 

"What did you mean by leading that poor girl on like that?!" I asked in mock agitation. I smiled at him so he'd know I was only joking. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about Monsieur!" He stated, unable to keep a straight face. 

I started to chuckle a bit-this wasn't good. He knew just how to play me and I was walking right into it. 

He wanted to get me laughing uncontrollably and he knew just how. He always has.

"I didn't ‘lead her on.’" He said imitating me. 

I laughed out loud at that. He has an amazing ear for reproducing other's voices. Every time he'd do his "Lestat" impression I always lost it. 

"Besides," he added, "YOU were the one who crushed her fantasies when you sat at my table."

I could feel one of my legendary laughing spells coming.

"I just wanted to give her something to tell her friends." He continued. "Or perhaps, you're just a bad influence on me!" 

That was it. I was gone! I about fell over from laughing so hard and he was unable to hide his smile. I regained most of my composure and leaned forward to slap his drawn up leg. 

"You are terrible!" I told him.

This was a role reversal of sorts. Its usually him that does the admonishing and me that is on the defensive. I couldn't get over this new found confidence that was emanating from him. 

Not that he was ever weak. He was laughing and smiling so freely with me I could see the well hidden dimple in his chin. He was just gorgeous. I don't think very many of our kind have ever experienced this side of him. He'd rather observe than intervene. That's just his way.

"Lestat." He said rousing me.

"You said you wanted to be someplace quiet so we could talk. Was there anything in particular you wanted to discuss?" 

So much for trying to keep things light.

There really was no use in trying to dance around the matter. He knew me too well. Even at that moment I could see him watching me, trying to discern my underlying purpose for this visit. It was pointless and cruel to keep him waiting. 

Oh, hell, I've never been much for subterfuge anyway! I looked at him briefly, took a deep breath and leaned forward putting my elbows on my knees, my head in my hands. I really didn't want to do this.

“Louis, it's about Merrick." My voice was barely a whisper. 

I saw him tense up all over at the mention of her name out my peripheral vision. I stared back at the ground.

"Sh-She"s--" I had to stop. Had to try to keep from sobbing. "She's dead........She's dead Louis! She went into the fire. I tried to stop her Louis! I truly did, as did Tarquin. She wouldn't let us! I tried-" I couldn't finish.

He shifted positions on the bench so that his posture matched mine. 

"I know" He said. 

It was nearly inaudible, spoken for my ears alone. I was, needless to say, quite at a loss for words. I drew myself upright and looked at him.

"No one else has said anything to me." He said starring at the gravel beneath our shoes.

"In fact I haven't seen any of the others since I left New Orleans. I appreciate your telling me , though, more than you know."

His features were somewhat drawn in his sadness and he wrung his hands unconsciously. His whole figure was taut with distress. 

I wanted to bury my face in his shoulders but I didn't. He had more to say. 

"I knew about her the same way you must have known about me." He said in a raw whisper. 

I couldn't stand not touching him anymore. I closed the distance between us and slid my arm around his rigid shoulders. I moved and errant lock of hair out of sheer habit. He turned slightly to look at me. 

"I felt it." He said. It was almost a question.

I looked away from him, starring into the park beyond us. I gave his shoulder a slight squeeze and just nodded. No words could express what I felt at that moment. I could feel the blood tears threatening to spill over and I shut my eyes against them.

When I turned back to him he was looking out into the night as I had been. I took this chance to study his all too perfect profile. The sweep of his brow and the hollow of his cheek. His jaw line clenched violently as I gazed on him. 

He hated to be watched but this didn't have anything to do with that. He kept his face a blank mask and other than the tension in his jaw there was no sign of emotion.

I moved my arm from around his shoulders and stroked the side of his face. 

His shoulders hitched slightly and his eyebrows knitted together in a mask of complete sorrow. The tears I knew he'd been struggling with finally won out and slid down his cheeks. 

I reached into the pocket of my denim jacket for my handkerchief and with my other hand I removed his glasses. I pressed the handkerchief tenderly beneath his downcast eyes.

He reached up and took it gratefully and met my gaze. It was the first time all evening I'd seen those eyes and I winced visibly at their brilliance. He glanced down again still blotting at those wretched blood tears. I took his free hand in mine.

"I am deeply sorry Louis." I said sincerely. 

After a long, intense moment he looked up at me and the tears were gone. He looked positively ravishing in his sorrow, but his voice was still raw.

"Understand that I hold nothing against you in this. It was not your fault Lestat." He told me returning the handkerchief. 

"I should never have allowed her to gain such a hold over me." 

I think he meant he never should have made her one of us, but he'd never put voice to that opinion. Aside from his red rimmed eyes he appeared rather calm. It would seem he'd thought of this quite often. 

How very fitting of this beautifully, melancholy creature. How absolutely like him to think that Merrick's death was in some way his fault.

I couldn't abide by that! His guilt over Claudia's death is what lead him to attempt suicide! I had to reassure him that Merrick's passing had been of her own volition, no one else's. Especially not his.

I put the handkerchief back into my pocket along with his glasses. 

"You must know that you never allowed anything concerning her," as I spoke I reached for his hands and placed both of them in mine.

"Louis, everything you gave to her she took. She took her hold over you!" 

I made a point to keep my tone mild and conciliatory, trying not to offend him. He withdrew one of his hands and made a weary gesture of acceptance. 

"So the story goes." He said with a hint of bitterness. 

"The fact remains, Lestat, that her life among us was my responsibility." 

"You mean because you made her?" I asked, but it was more of a statement. 

"That's precisely my point." He said. 

"Does that mean, then, that you could keep her from doing things you didn't approve of? Or force her to be what and how you thought she should be?" I asked. 

He eyed me a little suspiciously, unsure how to interpret this line of questioning. 

"Besides, she surrendered any responsibility on your behalf when she coerced you into giving her this life!" I added with more than a little venom. 

He withdrew his other hand from mine and moved away from me slightly. 

"What are you trying to say Lestat? Did Merrick tell you any of what occurred between the two of us on that night?" He asked a little affronted. 

"No, she never--" 

"Just as I thought." He interrupted.

"Now, since you were not there please, make no assumptions on what took place." He finished angrily.

"Would you care to fill me in?" I spat at him.

"But that wouldn't do would it? We both know you have a knack for vast omissions as well as an uncanny ability to embellish the truth!!" I said with just as much anger.

Some how things never go the way I plan. This was a paltry excuse for a conciliatory attempt. We really know how to provoke one another. Me referring to that piece of trash novel of his was almost always a conversation stopper. 

"Are you implying something, Lestat?" He asked wearily. 

"If this is all you have to offer, then kindly be on your way. Its been a rather trying evening and I am not inclined to sit and endure any further insults from you!" He turned his body so he faced forward. 

Well damnit. I had to calm myself and quickly before he stalked off. 

"I'm not implying anything." I said moving closer to him.

"I'm simply trying to ease your eternally guilty conscience by laying all the facts out plainly-" 

I placed my hand gingerly on his knee,"-and trying not to hurt you. Its not as if there are are things that I wish I could change with how things went with us." I told him softly. 

I was desperately trying to fix this.

"You and I are different." He said looking away from me.

"Different how?" I asked straightening a little. 

"What I mean to say is that our relationship is different from mine and Merricks." He explained.

I moved my hand from his knee and stared at him in disbelief. ‘Don't say it Louis’ I thought. I was about to yell and demand he tell me just what the hell he was talking about and all the other typical hot-headed brat prince responses when he continued.

"The relationships are different because they were based on different things." He had that tone in his voice that he gets when he is lecturing me about this or that.

It can be maddening, but I let him continue. 

"Both of you had different reasons for choosing me, do you understand what I am saying?' He asked looking directly at me. 

"Yes, yes. Go on." I answered.

"You chose me for who I was. For the qualities that made me the man I was." He stated.

I nodded and smiled. He'd finally gotten over that crass assumption that I'd made him for his money. 

"She chose me for the vampire I was, or at least she thought me to be; weak-minded and easily manipulated if you tug the proper strings." He stopped, starring downward again. He sounded bitter and angry. 

"Don't mistake my meaning Lestat." He said looking back at me suddenly. "I felt love for her, I love her still--" 

"Naturally," I said interrupting him. "A fledgling is never made without love." 

"Yes," he said,"but it is the same love that I feel for Armand." 

I just starred at him. I hadn't the faintest idea what he was trying to say, and moreover, I was unsure if I wanted to hear it. His time with Armand has always been a sore subject. 

"I think what I am trying to say is that the feeling is similar because their reasons for companionship were similar." He said.

"They both sought to better their situation by draining me of qualities they both believed existed in me. Merrick physically, Armand emotionally. I failed them both." He opened his hands, palms upward as he finished.

This made no sense to me. I had no clue what the hell he was talking about. I simply could not grasp his meaning.

"How can you possibly say you failed them!!?" I asked him.

"They both acted like leaches! Both of them were just selfish in their desires for you. They had no consideration for your soul and how you'd recover, if at all, from what they put you through!" 

I was appalled. This was definitely not going how I planned. 

"Armand was emotionally crippled when he attached himself to you. You must know that. And Merrick--well, she was a Mayfair for God's sake! She knew what she was getting into."I continued, trying to convince him. 

"Don't make me out to be a saint, Lestat." He said placing both feet firmly on the ground.

I had a sudden rush of fear that he was about to bolt and I'd screwed everything up. 

"I'm not defending them, mind you," he said facing me. 

"What they did was unconscionable. But, so is what I did. I allowed it. Do you see?" He asked me with a tilt of his head. 

I was speechless. Totally shocked. He sat quietly awaiting my response.

"No, I don't see. There's no sense lying to you about it." He glanced upward with an exasperated sigh. 

I leaned back into the corner of the bench draping my arm across the back and stretching my legs out until my feet nearly touched his.

"And here I came all this way to comfort my dearest friend in his hour of need." 

When I said this I kicked his foot lightly a few times with my boot. 

"Only to discover he's done that for himself by constructing a pile of delusions in his pretty little head." I cocked my head to one side and gave him a lopsided grin.

I admit that I was a little hurt by the seeming comfort he took in his revelation. But, I told myself, that is so utterly like him. My beautiful one. The one who thinks everything through and never acts rashly. 

Well, almost never.

"You do comfort me." He said insistently, moving closer to me propping his arm on the back of the bench.

"That you would travel across this country in search of me out of sheer concern for my well being touches me deeply." 

He stood as he was speaking. He walked around the back of the bench until he reached my side. He stood there a few minutes and there was an air of uncertainty about him.

Finally he knelt at the arm rest and put his hand on my shoulder. He was looking down as if trying to conjure some inner strength to finish his statement. I moved to face him and he met my gaze. 

Boldly, he reached out and removed my glasses placing them in my jacket pocket. He touched the side of my face with a look of wonder on his face.

I was reminded of our brief encounter in Carmel valley 2 decades ago in the way he showed boldness and reticence in the same gesture. 

All I could do was stare into his green eyes and wonder if he could sense the whirlwind of emotions he stirred within me: Desire, Love, Compassion, Anger, Guilt, Sorrow. I felt all of these things as I looked at him. Him. This beautiful creature I had faceted out of human flesh. 

This same creature who refused basic modern advancements not too long ago now looking every bit his mortal age in the style of today's youth. 

Oh, how I wanted to grab him and shake him or kiss him or drain him! Something, all of those things. I didn't though, I just stared at him.

He seemed to be at a loss for words. I put my hands on the sides of his face and drew closer until our foreheads touched. He met my eyes and they seemed to bore into me as always. 

"You've given me eternity twice over." He whispered.

"I hate that there are so many terrible things that have passed between us! I want us to be warm and comfortable together again." He continued. 

Leave it to Louis to bundle over 100 years of good intentions, heated arguments, cold silences, death threats, and heart brakes and so on into one neat little statement. 

I don't like dragging up the past, especially when its painful. I was afraid for him to continue, I didn't know where it would lead, and I shut my eyes against his words. 

"Lestat, please look at me!" He whispered pleadingly. 

I looked up because I could deny him nothing and because he sounded so broken. I could see a tint of red brimming in his eyes which made me want to break down myself. I felt the tears again but ignored them.

"I love you." He said quietly. 

That did it. The tears ran freely down my face and he moved to kiss the twin trails on either side of my face. He started to pull away, but I caught his chin. His eyes widened in surprise.

I moved forward, closing the gap between us and captured his mouth with mine. I sliced my tongue on my fang and heard him moan softly. His arms wrapped around me as we both stood. 

Suddenly I felt a rush of hot smoke flood my mouth and I was in heaven.

Our kiss lasted several moments until I pulled away breathless, still holding his face. His arms were around me and he was looking at me so adoringly.

I put my forehead against his again and whispered.

"I love you, too." I kissed him again quickly and held him at arms length to admire him. 

He was exquisite in his bashfulness. Even the tips of his ears were pink! I laughed softly at the sight of him and he met my eyes with a smile.

I took his hand and we began walking again, aimlessly.

<fin>


End file.
